1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to compositions, including nutritional supplements, for use in improving cardiovascular health and, more specifically, to compositions that may be useful for preventing arteriosclerosis.
2. Background of Related Art
The term “cardiovascular disease,” as used herein, is intended to refer to all pathological states leading to a narrowing and/or occlusion of blood vessels throughout the body. In particular, the term “cardiovascular disease” refers to conditions including atherosclerosis, thrombosis and other related pathological states, especially within arteries of the heart and brain. Accordingly, the term “cardiovascular disease” encompasses, without limitation, various types of heart disease, as well as Alzheimer's disease and vascular dimension.
For some time, conventional medical treatment of cardiovascular disease has focused on low density lipoprotein, or “LDL,” the so called “bad cholesterol,” and strategies for lowering its concentration in the bloodstream. A great many studies have been published ostensibly linking cardiovascular disease with elevated levels of LDL. As a result, most therapies for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease rely on drugs that reduce serum levels of LDL in the bloodstream. More recent studies have found the effects of lowering LDL levels on cardiovascular disease to be somewhat equivocal. Thus, the efficacy of LDL-reducing drugs and therapies continues to be a source of major debate within the medical community.
Lipoprotein(a) (“Lp(a)”) binds LDL receptors on the walls of blood vessels. Lp(a) also binds lysine-sepharose, immobilized fibrin and fibrinogen, and the plasminogen receptor on endothelial cells. Additionally, Lp(a) binds other components of the arterial wall, including fibrinectin and glycosaminoglycans. High levels of Lp(a) in blood are known to be associated with the incidence of cardiovascular disease, likely due to the cross-linking effects of Lp(a) that has bound to LDL receptors on blood vessel walls.
Some cardiovascular therapies are designed to reduce the binding of Lp(a) by LDL receptors that are present on the interior walls of the arteries and include antioxidants to reduce swelling of the arteries. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,418 to Rath et al. (hereinafter “Rath”) describes a cardiovascular disease treatment composition which includes lysine or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, nicotinic acid, and ascorbic acid (i.e., vitamin C). The lysine binds LDL receptors and, thus, prevents Lp(a) from binding such receptors, thereby reducing the negative effects of Lp(a) on the arteries. Nicotinic acid and ascorbic acid are antioxidants which reduce swelling of the arterial walls, thereby permitting more blood to flow through the arteries and, to some extent, reducing blood pressure.
In addition to high levels of Lp(a), it is believed that several pathogens, including herpes simplex II virus (HSV-II), may be partially responsible for causing cardiovascular disease. Among other things, it is believed that such pathogens cause swelling of the arterial walls, which results in vasoconstriction. In turn, vasoconstriction restricts the flow rate of blood through the arteries and increases blood pressure.
Also, it is believed that such pathogens may damage the walls of blood vessels, which results in the binding of Lp(a) thereto.
While the composition described in Rath reduces the effects of Lp(a) and reduces some swelling of the arteries, it does not target the causes of such swelling to eliminate the same.
The inventor is not aware of a composition for use in cardiovascular therapy that includes one or more components that target the pathogenic causes of swelling of the arteries and enlist the immune system of a subject (e.g., a mammal, such as a human or any other mammal) to reduce or eliminate such pathogenic causes of such inflammation, which may contribute to cardiovascular disease.